


Here to Help

by God_of_Doors



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23424505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/God_of_Doors/pseuds/God_of_Doors
Summary: Arden is injured and pines for Teldryn a little while Teldryn helps.Written for OC Whump WeekDay 7: Broken
Relationships: Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Teldryn Sero
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18
Collections: Arden and Teldryn





	Here to Help

Neither Arden nor Teldryn were prepared for the number of Reavers they encountered upon emerging from the barrow. They’d been underground for well over a day by that point, and were tired, hungry, and filthy, but this latest group of bandits kept them from letting their guard down just yet. Arden hung back with an arrow nocked, squinting against the light of the setting sun to locate a target. The door they had just left led onto a bridge, connecting the sheer cliff face with two watchtowers on the shoreline a short distance away. Teldryn moved forward to engage the Reaver coming across the bridge while Arden struggled to locate the one that was firing arrows at him.

A bit of movement near ground level caught his attention and he drew back to fire, stepping just slightly to the side in hopes of getting a better angle, but suddenly there was nothing under his foot anymore. The arrow went wide and Arden yelped in surprise as he fell, releasing his bow to scrabble uselessly at the stone bridge as it went by. He felt more than heard the crack that reverberated from his leg through his body when he hit the ground, and had a full second to process the fact that he had definitely just broken a bone before the pain hit.

He struggled to right himself in a desperate panic, but the pain kept his body from cooperating. There were people who wanted him dead nearby; he didn’t have time to be injured. His bow was on the ground a few yards away, but it wasn’t going to do him much good if he couldn’t stand anyway, so he left it be for the moment. A shadow blocked the sun, and Arden struggled to draw his sword from a half-prone position. The Reaver’s own sword came down at him, forcing him to abandon his struggle for his sword and throw himself to the side. The movement jostled his leg, and a cry of agony forced its way past his lips. He rolled to his back, frantic to keep the aggressor in his sight, which also meant he had a perfect view of the Reaver getting blasted to the side by a firebolt from above.

Arden didn’t bother to look up, keeping his eyes on the Reaver in case he managed to get up again, but a second firebolt a moment later ensured that that wouldn’t be happening. Arden scanned the shoreline for any one else, only allowing himself to look up when he was convinced he wasn’t in immediate danger. Teldryn was still on the bridge, but moving closer to the towers with every swing of his sword. His attention was divided between the one he was in melee with and another just inside the furthest tower, at whom he was hurling firebolts when he could. Before Arden could figure out a way to help, Teldryn had managed to take them both down, and with a last glance over the bridge at Arden, he rushed forward into the tower.It was only a few seconds before he emerged from the tower’s ground entrance, nearly tripping over himself as he hurried over to where Arden was slowly attempting to push himself into an upright position.

Teldryn dropped to his knees, panting, beside his patron, hands fluttering awkwardly around Arden’s leg. Arden looked down to find that there was a noticeable curve in the middle of his shin that definitely should not have been there, and the sight turned his stomach a little.

“Do you have any healing potions left?” Teldryn asked after a moment.

Arden swallowed. “I have one left, I think, but I have to reset the bone first,“ he ground out. His fingers curled into the soft soil in anticipation of the pain that was coming. He looked up at the mercenary. “Help me?”

“I’m not sure what to do,” Teldryn admitted.

“Just…I need you to grab below the break and pull on it a little.” Arden cringed at the way his voice cracked, as though his very vocal cords were trying to prevent this from happening.

“Are you sure?”

Arden nodded, trying to breathe through the pain and ignore the pit growing in his stomach. “It has to be in the right position before I drink the potion or it will heal wrong.”

"I know, I just…” Teldryn trailed off, then shook his head and gently wrapped his hands around Arden’s leg. “Are you ready?”

Arden hurriedly fished his last healing potion out of his pack and settled it in the soft dirt beside himself, then he put one hand near his knee and the other at the break to guide it back into place. He felt sick and his hands were trembling so much he almost didn’t dare put his hand near the break in his leg for fear of bumping it. Teldryn suddenly reached forward to put one hand over Arden’s not pressing it against his leg, but just steadying it. Arden looked up into Teldryn’s face but couldn’t discern his expression or even where he was looking through his goggles. Arden breathed once, twice, and then gave a single, resolute nod.

The pain was immense, and there was no way for Arden to hold back his agonized screech, but between the combination of Teldryn’s steady hand and what little functioning thought Arden managed to maintain, they managed to straighten his leg out. Teldryn quickly uncorked the healing potion for Arden, who gulped it down eagerly. It wasn’t enough to completely heal his leg, but now at least the edges of the bones wouldn’t grind together when he moved, and with the support of a splint he would even be able to put a small amount of weight on it.

Teldryn was able to swiftly craft a splint from some of the old, broken floorboards of the crumbling watchtowers and two belts taken from Reaver corpses. “You reset broken bones often?” he asked while he worked.

Arden gave a breathy laugh. He felt lightheaded and woozy, but at least the analgesic effects of the potion had lessened the pain. “Bosmer are taught how to care for basic injuries before being allowed to go on their first solo hunt,” he explained. “I’ve helped friends set bones before, but I’ve yet to have to do it by myself.”

Teldryn began gathering everything of Arden’s he could carry. “Well… hopefully you never have to.”

“Not as long as I’ve got you around,” Arden said with a smile that he rather hoped looked casual and friendly, and not the wistful, lovestruck grin it was trying to be.

Teldryn hummed but didn’t say anything, and as usual Arden couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. All he saw were goggles and cloth staring back at him. Still, Teldryn was very gentle in lifting Arden to his feet, having to slouch his shoulders a little to comfortably draw Arden’s arm across them. Arden bit back another sigh, and they began the long, arduous limp back to Raven Rock.


End file.
